Alton Brown bringing his 'Edible Inevitable Tour' to Phila

Saturday

Jan 11, 2014 at 7:00 AM

Other than the fact he always knew that someday he would take his act on the road, Food Network star Alton Brown says there is no hidden meaning behind “The Edible Inevitable Tour,” the name of Brown's touring show.

Rex Huffman TimesReporter.com Features Editor @rhuffmanTR

Other than the fact he always knew that someday he would take his act on the road, Food Network star Alton Brown says there is no hidden meaning behind "The Edible Inevitable Tour," the name of Brown's touring show.

"I just liked the way it sounded," Brown said of the title. "I always felt it was inevitable we would do a tour and I liked edible because almost everything I do has something to do with food."

"Alton Brown Live! The Edible Inevitable Tour" will pay a visit to New Philadelphia on Feb. 9 when Brown brings his show to the Performing Arts Center on the campus of Kent State University at Tuscarawas.

Brown hosted, wrote and produced "Good Eats," which ran for 13 straight years on Food Network before making the jump to Cooking Channel, where it airs to this day. In 2007, the show received a Peabody Award for broadcast excellence.

Brown also has served as the culinary commentator of "Iron Chef America" for 11 seasons, and hosted "Next Iron Chef" for five years. In 2012, he joined the cast of "Food Network Star" as a mentor — and one of his team members won.

Brown, during a recent phone interview, said he enjoys performing live.

"I come from a theater background," said Brown. "I like doing the TV shows, but I realized I would never be able to do something on the scale I wanted unless I put it together as a tour."

As it turned out, Brown wasn't kidding. The show includes stand-up comedy, talk-show antics, a multimedia lecture, live music and food experimentation. Publicity for the show warns audience members to be prepared, because ponchos will be involved.

"Only for those in the front row," said Brown of the poncho warning. "And that depends on how far from the stage the front row is. I don't deliberately set out to make a mess, but some of the show is science-based, and some airborne particulate matter is involved."

The show also will offer an interactive component, in which audience members will have the opportunity to serve as Brown's trusted assistants on stage.

Although he enjoyed spending time in the kitchen as a child, Brown said it wasn't until he got to college that he became serious about cooking.

"I started cooking in college as a way to get dates," said Brown. "I discovered that girls who said no to dates sometimes said yes if I offered to cook for them."

As for favorite foods, Brown said that as a child, it was beef stroganoff. "My mom made an awesome stroganoff," he said. "As an adult, I would have to say that I find it hard to beat a good cheeseburger."

As to advice for the budding cook, Brown said he believes the two most important things one can do are read and travel. "It's important always to keep your mind open to bring in new ideas," said Brown.

Brown said he believes that now is a good time to get into the food industry, particularly when it comes to opening a successful restaurant. "However, when it comes to getting into the food entertainment business, it can be much more difficult," Brown said.

Regarding the tour, Brown said he wants people to know it's a show for the entire family.

"Kids have been making up about 20 percent of our audience," said Brown. "Nothing happens that offends or is scary. I will say the show can be noisy. There's a lot of music, and there are about six songs in the show, including a kumquat song which, hopefully, the audience will find humorous. This truly is a variety show, with a lot of audience interaction and something for everyone.

"I've been cultivating material for this show for about a decade, so it feels pretty darned good to finally get it out of my head and onto a stage," said Brown.

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